Etihad Guest caps 2006 with new milestones

Members can choose to redeem their miles immediately or accrue benefits as they take advantage of the privileges Etihad Guest has to offer. In the first five months alone, 242 members have gained Silver status and 13 members have gained Gold status.

A wealth of discounts, from luxury resorts and car rental to financial services and cinema tickets, have played a major role in attracting the influx of new members.

"The impact Etihad Guest has had since its launch has been breathtaking with our membership growing every week. We wanted to offer a loyalty programme which was totally unique and the speed at which we have reached a membership of 65,000 shows how successful this has been,"

said Peter Baumgartner, Head of Marketing.

In addition to earning and spending Miles on Etihad flights, the programme offers an exclusive network of international travel and leisure partners including Hertz car rentals and world-famous hotel groups such as Hilton and Rotana.

UAE-based members can now also apply for the co-branded HSBC Etihad Guest Card, which allows members to earn miles on all their purchases at home and abroad.

Etihad Guest has also received significant praise from industry experts across the globe eager to acknowledge the new programme's innovative features, which include immediate rewards and anytime availability.

Randy Petersen, considered the world's leading expert on frequent flyer programmes, said: "The Etihad Guest programme is the most innovative frequent flyer programme in the world with benefits for every type of flyer. Regardless of how many miles a member flies, they can redeem a reward which is unseen in any programme throughout the globe."

Etihad Guest is also celebrating its first UAE-based Gold Members who have each accrued 50,000 miles with the Abu Dhabi-based airline, and can now enjoy exclusive benefits including 50 percent extra Etihad Tier Miles on every flight and a range of service privileges.

Speaking about becoming a new Etihad Guest Gold member, Mr. Abdulaziz Al Khaili from Abu Dhabi said: "It is incredible just how quickly and easily my membership has increased from Silver to Gold. Every time I fly with Etihad, whether for business or leisure, I receive notification of my new quota of Miles and the wealth of new rewards available to me."

Once Gold Members have achieved their new tier they only need to earn 40,000 Etihad Guest Tier Miles or 30 Etihad Guest Tier Segments in each subsequent calendar year to retain Gold status.

"Etihad Guest Gold is our most sought-after tier, offering seamlessly smooth journeys with all travel needs met with care and attention, from limousine transfers to access to our network of lounges," continued Baumgartner.

Gold Members also receive special lounge access, excess baggage allowance, waitlist priority, complementary limousine transfer and Tier Bonus Miles on every flight.

Prior to launching the new programme Etihad Airways carried out extensive research on what member want from a loyalty programme. The results of which have formed the leading six pillars of Etihad Guest:

1) Immediate rewards - with the 1MileRedemption feature, fly once and enjoy instant rewards

2) No blackout periods - GuestSeats are available on all flights, and if a seat is available, you can book it

3) Anytime availability - all seats, including the very last seat, are available at any time. Redeem OpenSeats at a mileage cost equivalent to the commercial price of the seat

4) The widest choice - redeem on flights, products or services using our exclusive Reward Shop

5) Miles plus cash - decide how many miles you want to use and contribute the rest in cash using our Miles+Cash feature. You even earn miles on the actual cash spent on flights

6) Miles that are worth more - one mile can be worth much more than in any other programme

Etihad Guest Membership is free and mile accrual is immediate, with individuals from every country aged two-years old and upwards eligible to join.